Reviewing Random Films For Fun

April 22, 2015

Triumph of the Will #MovieReview

Film 168 in the “1001 Films to See Before You Die” challenge is 1934’s “Triumph of the Will”. Or as it was known in Germany, “Triumph des Willens”. This Leni Riefenstahl war documentary is about the 1934 Nazi Party Congress in Nuremberg, which was attended by more than 700,000 Nazi supporters. I really didn’t want to watch this film but I guess I don’t have much of a choice after finding out it made the list. And quite frankly, not a lot really happens. Unless your the type of person who really wants to listen to speeches for 100 minutes then this film is for you. This film really dragged right from the start. Apart from watching speeches, the only other thing you really watch is people walking around shouting “hail” every few seconds. Which after a while gave me a massive headache. I can only assume that with 700,000 people saying that, Hitler must’ve had a massive headache before giving his speeches. Overall, this is a documentary I don’t really recommend unless you really like listening to speeches. Especially in German! In 1964, Leni Riefenstahl had this to say about the film, “It reflects the truth that was then in 1934, history. It is therefore a documentary.” Fun Fact of the Film – A British propaganda film later set footage of Hitler and troops from this film to the song “The Lambeth Walk”. If you have seen this film, then let me know what you thought of it in the comments. Here is what I had to say while watching 1934’s “Triumph of the Will”

Film – Triumph of the Will (Triumph des Willens)

Year – 1934

Director – Leni Riefenstahl

Written by – Leni Riefenstahl, Walter Ruttmann

Staring – Adolf Hitler, Hermann Goring, Max Amann

IMDb Rating – 7.4/10

My Rating – 5/10

Length – 140 min (1h 40min)

Genre – Documentary, War

20 years have past since WWI started

“16 years after the beginning of Germany’s suffering”

Lots of clouds

Welcome to Nuremburg

Adolf Hitler has arrived to give a speech

Hello everyone

Just watching Hitler and Co. drive through Nuremberg

I think he just turned down flowers from a baby

Nothing is really happening

“We want to see our Fuhrer”

Hello again. Now bugger off! I need some sleep

I can’t see a thing

How to wake people up in the middle of the night – Have an orchestra play outside someones bedroom window

Insert random shots of Nuremberg because the cameraman woke up early and got bored waiting for everyone else

Wait… Everyone camped out just for this

Meanwhile… A bare-knuckle boxing match is taking place while we wait for Hitler’s arrival

Now it’s time for the human chariot race

Some people with rakes arrive along with some other people

Hitler finally arrives to meet his troops before driving off

Time for a speech from someone

Reich President von Hindenburg has just died

“You are Germany”

He says that the entire world will be speaking German soon

Someone called Wagner gives a speech

Now for Rosenberg to talk

There’s not a lot to say about what’s happening – Just sit back and watch

Dietrich speaks

Someone else talks – I didn’t catch his name

Rienhard speaks

Someone else talks – I didn’t catch his name due to a Facebook notification